Israel Says Hezbollah Trying to Rebuild, Smuggle in Arms From Syria

The Israeli military accused Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah on Tuesday of seeking to rebuild its combat abilities in south Lebanon to the point of threatening Israel‘s security and undoing last year’s ceasefire deal.

Military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said Iranian-backed Hezbollah was operating south of the Litani River in violation of the truce accord and that Israeli forces were conducting strikes on Hezbollah targets in that area. Hezbollah, which has refused to disarm in accordance with the ceasefire, nonetheless says it is committed to the deal.

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam say Israel is violating the truce deal, pointing to the occupation of five hilltop positions in southern Lebanon by Israeli troops as well as Israeli air strikes and ground incursions into Lebanese territory.

TENSION OVER DISARMAMENT PUSH

Shoshani told a news briefing that Hezbollah was also trying to smuggle in weapons from Syria and via other routes to Lebanon. “We are working to prevent that from happening and to block the ground routes from Syria into Lebanon to a high level of success, but they still pose a threat to us,” Shoshani said.

“We are committed to the agreement, but it must be held. We will not return to the reality of Oct. 7 [2023] with a threat of thousands of terrorists on our border within walking distance of our civilians.”

Several recent reports have said that Hezbollah is, with support from Iran, intensifying efforts to bolster its military power, including the production and repair of weapons, smuggling of arms and cash through seaports and Syrian routes, recruitment and training, and the use of civilian infrastructure as a base and cover for its operations.

Hezbollah denies it is rebuilding its military capabilities in south Lebanon. It has not fired at Israel since the ceasefire came into force, and Lebanese security officials told Reuters that Hezbollah has not obstructed Lebanese army operations to find and confiscate the group’s weapons in the country’s south.

In a televised speech on Tuesday, Hezbollah head Naim Qassem said Hezbollah remained committed to the 2024 ceasefire and that there was “no alternative” to that deal.

He said if Israel withdrew, stopped its attacks on Lebanon, and released Lebanese nationals detained in Israel, then northern Israeli towns would have “no problem” with security.

But he reiterated Hezbollah‘s rejection of full disarmament and said Israel‘s destructive and deadly strikes “cannot continue,” adding: “There is a limit to everything.”

The comments came after Hezbollah recently threatened protests and civil unrest if the government tries to enforce control over its weapons.

Israel has been pressing Lebanon’s army to be more aggressive in disarming Hezbollah by searching private homes in the south for weaponry, according to Lebanese and Israeli officials.

The army is confident it can declare Lebanon’s south free of Hezbollah arms by the end of 2025, but has refused to search private dwellings for fear of reigniting civil strife and derailing a disarmament strategy seen by the army as cautious but effective, Lebanese security officials told Reuters. The terrorist group still wields considerable power among Shi’ites in Lebanon’s fragile sectarian-based system of governance.

Experts have expressed a different assessment.

Under last year’s ceasefire agreement, the Lebanese government committed to disarm Hezbollah, which for years held significant political and military influence across the country while maintaining large-scale terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon, which borders northern Israel. The deal was reached after Israel decimated much of Hezbollah’s leadership and military capabilities with an air and ground offensive following the Islamist group’s attacks on northern Israeli communities — which Hezbollah claimed were a show of solidarity with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas amid the war in Gaza.

Earlier this year, Lebanese officials agreed to a US-backed disarmament plan, which called for the terrorist group to be fully disarmed within four months — by November — in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from the five occupied positions in the country’s southern region.

The Lebanese government is now facing mounting pressure from Israeli and US officials to follow through and establish a state monopoly on weapons.

“It is definitely unrealistic for the Lebanese army to achieve full disarmament by the end of the year,” Hanin Ghaddar, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told The Algemeiner, noting that the subsequent phases, for which they refuse to provide a timeline, could take months or even years.

“The goal should be to reach a better agreement now. The ceasefire was a good start, but it lacked a clear timeline, and Hezbollah is using this period to rearm and rebuild itself militarily, financially, and politically,” she continued. “The stronger Hezbollah becomes, the weaker Lebanon gets, and the prospects for disarmament and peace will continue to diminish.”

Hezbollah last week rejected any talks between Israel and Lebanon, even as the Jewish state ramps up military operations amid rising border tensions.